1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to metal nanoparticle synthesis, and particularly, to a green method of preparing silver nanoparticles using fungal biomass culture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nanoparticles exhibit completely new or improved properties compared to their corresponding bulk materials. Nanotechnology is a deliberate manipulation of matter at size scales of less than 100 nm and holds the promise of creating new materials and devices which take advantage of unique phenomenon realized at those nanoscales. Because of their size, catalytic property, ability to deliver drug, increased efficacy, and decreased toxicity, nanotechnology finds applications in various fields including healthcare, defense and day-to-day life.
There has been a search for greener production alternatives of metal nanoparticles. Both unicellular and multicellular organisms have been found to produce inorganic materials either intra- or extracellularly. For example, a large number of fungal strains are capable of synthesizing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) extracellularly.
Clean water (i.e., water that is free of toxic chemicals and pathogens) is essential to human health. In countries such as India, 80% of the diseases are due to bacterial contamination of drinking water. Research is underway to use advance nanotechnology in purification of drinking water. Preliminary studies have shown that a 20 ppm silver colloidal suspension (˜30 nm diameter) in purified water has a 100% cure rate for malaria. Spherical aggregates of nanoparticles that have a similar size and shape to the resin beads already used in water purification. The protection of water treatment systems against potential chemical and biological terrorist acts is also becoming a critical issue in water resources planning. Nanoparticles can also be designed and synthesized to act as either separation or reaction media for pollutants. Recent applications of silver nanoparticles have included open wound and burn treatment.
Thus, a method of synthesizing noble metal nanoparticles from fungi thereby solving the aforementioned problems is desired.